J.Suplanski

AMEND TO THAT!!!!!!!!!!

lniemeyer2

My Kore kit lifted the front of my truck 3" then I had to get air bags for the rear to lift it about an inch. Never had to deal with their customer service though. Kit was great for the money in my opinion.

quadman20

I put on the Kore lvl'n kit on it has been a better ride then stock.l put bilstiens on as well. It didn't raise mine 3". My truck was 2 3/4" higher in the rear and the kit raised it 2" and hasn't drop any since installed. It does have an oh so rake look to it but thats ok. Cause when I put the toy hauler it sits nice. Headlights aren't pointing to the heavens. I see to many trucks that are raised and there higher in the front then the rear and can't believe they think it looks good.

trik396

My Chase (KORE) setup lifted my front 2.5" and rear around an inch and has stayed that way for several years. Never had to call for service... why would you have to anyway??? The product fits perfect and built to last.

07CTD4X4Sport

I go off-road maybe 3-4 times a year. Looking something to mostly fit 35's with a slight improvement on handling and perfomance.

Fisherguy

I think there's less Kore dealers than there used to be cuz they lowered their prices to the point you can buy stuff cheaper directly from Kore than you can from the Kore dealers (but I could be wrong).

Warponee

Making a long story short...after a lot of time researching various forum posts, comparing technical specs and finally sending emails to Carli, Don Thuren and Sean Lorenz with my questions, I decided to spend my suspension upgrade money with Don Thuren.

FWIW, My impressions:

KORE-Seems like they make some great stuff but more geared to hard core, high speed off-road driving. I initially spent a lot of time on their site reading, learning, etc. and thought "Man, this is the s**t!!" However, I ran across a number of posts where people had problems with their systems (didn't matter whether it was a leveling kit or a 10k+ race system) and the customer service people reported was universally very poor or could be characterized as non-existent. BTW, Trik396...the issues most people reported were not that something had broken but usually they had leaking shocks or needed to get their shocks revalved because they weren't initially set up properly for their driving conditions or style. One individual as it turns out, drives exactly the same roads I do and if I remember correctly, tried 3 different times to get his KORE system shocks working properly before giving up and going with a similar setup from Lorenz. I believe most businesses and organizations accurately reflect the leadership style of their owners/upper management..."corporate culture" if you will. Google Kent Kroeker and you'll find articles in a few off-road publications that give you some insight into how he runs his race ops and I think it will shed some light on why so many people have had difficulty getting what should be no-brainer, fair customer service. Not trying to step on any toes or start a flame war...just sharing what the picture looks like from my POV. I was giving serious thought to spending 5k+ on upgrading my suspension and I didn't think this was the kind of outfit I wanted to hand that kind of money to if I had any issues or problems.

Lorenz-I exchanged a few emails with Sean and he was helpful in terms of answering most of my questions. I really needed some explanation of what was different about the spring types he was using compared to Carli and Thuren. Sean said it was too much detail to "tap out on a PDA" and wanted to follow up with a phone call. Unfortunately, I was working in a remote area at the time that didn't have cell signals so it would have to wait. In the meantime, Don answered all my questions, via email, and the more I thought about it, it just didn't add up that a guy with a website, a design/printing business and a personal blog couldn't answer my questions by email due to the limitations of a PDA. Something else was up (IMO) and I never called Sean, nor did he attempt to follow up with me anytime afterwards.

Carli-They've obviously got the goods and some great performing suspension systems and other goodies. Somewhat pricey but worth it from everything I've heard/read. For some reason they never responded to my email. From what I've heard, this isn't SOP for Sage and his crew...it was October and I can only guess they were going nuts getting ready for the upcoming Baja 1k.

Thuren-Don spent more time than I could have expected answering my questions, sending me photo/video links showing various suspension systems in action and asking me detailed questions about the road conditions I drive on, speed and what kind of towing I do and what I expected to get out of a suspension upgrade. He actually ended up recommending I go with Carli's springs front and rear, King 2.5's and his fabricated control arms, track bar, etc. The system he put together for me would have easily been nearly twice as much if I had opted to go with one of the comparable Carli or KORE pre-configured packages. It has been slow getting the stuff here. Partly or possibly mostly my fault because I wanted a different powdercoat color than the the standard black. Hasn't been a big deal because until recently I've been too busy to do anything with my truck. My shocks are here and the rest should be turning up shortly.

If it's worth it to you to do business with someone who defines "customer service" and genuinely wants you to be 110% happy with your truck, I can't recommend Don Thuren highly enough. His website isn't as intuitive or glitzy as some of his competitors but if you give him the opportunity, he'll get you where you need to be and probably save you a fair bit of $$$.

Sorry for being wordy...I'm the adult child of an English teacher.

-Mike

jimmy_pop

excellent write up Warponee

Chopper_Bob

Thanks For That Info!
I have been waiting on a response with some info other than strictly opinion. I have actually been playing phone tag with Don Thuren trying to get an idea of what he would reccomend for me? As soon as I get some feed back from him I will post on this thread his suggestion for those of us who have smaller budgets but would like a better handlindg suspension and a small lift to fit those 35's.

Fisherguy

Yes, a great write up for someone thinking of spending 5k+ on a complete new suspension, but not sure how relevant it is for someone just wanting to lift the front end a couple inches so they can run 35's, especially considering that can be done with spacers....

.... I just wish new track bar's weren't so expensive.

Tobin

After reading some of these posts, I emailed Don Thuren and told him what I was looking for and what he reccomends. Like most of you guys, I just want to lift the truck some and be able to run my 35's I have sitting here, not some $5K Baja suspension.


Tobin

jimmy_pop

Does simply adding the 2.5" spacers shift the whole front end over?

Warponee

I think you either missed my point or perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The original question was "KORE vs. Lorenz?" I was attempting to distill my personal process of deciding who to go with on suspension into some hopefully useful information that would help another individual making a purchasing decision...whether it be $500.00 or $5000.00

Spacers come with their own set of issues and if you do your homework, you'll find there are other, relatively inexpensive options that will give some lift without further compromising what most people acknowledge is less than desirable handling characteristics of these trucks.

I know times are tough for a lot of people these days and if a set of spacers are what gets the job done for you right now, then by all means do what makes sense and take care of business.

If you're going to hold my feet to the fire on "relevance", not sure where the cost of track bars fits in the picture.... if you're just feeling a little contrary, it's probably because it's the middle of winter, you're Canadian and just can't help it.

Onward through the fog!

-Mike

enafzige

It may not be well taken, but I'll throw out another opinion...

If ALL you're wanting is a little front end lift with marginally better street ride, you'll probably be okay with Carli, Kore, Lorenz, or Thuren. However, if once you have your new $1k - $2k system on, you decide to take those backroads a little faster, and push things a little harder over a few bumps, whoops, rocks, etc, you better watch out!

For me the smaller end, entry-level kits just weren't the ticket. As soon as I installed mine, I had to try running through that big grass field at speed, barreling down that dirt road, etc. Problem is, all it takes is one unseen "dip", or the right series of bumps in sequence to bend a front axle housing and blow the shocks.

I'm not trying to be dramatic here, or encourage spending money unnecessarily. If you truly want a little lift, a little better ride, and will not change your driving style, an entry level kit will work well.

If you intend to push things a little harder once you get the kit installed, IMO, nothing less than a 2.5" shock is capable taking on the Cummins weight of the front end...particularly if your truck is hundreds of pounds above stock due to aftermarket add-ons.

I *think* spring rates would be softest (best on-road ride) with Thuren, then Carli, Lorenz, and lastly Kore. I've tried a couple of these, but not all. Hard data in this area tends toward thread wars and hurt feelings and not much factual information.



--Eric

supercharged_hp

If I just want a smooth ride over rutted and pot-holed roads, will the Bilstein 2" shocks be enough? I don't plan on going off road... I'm going more of a pro-touring route, as the muscle car guys say.

I see you have the Lorenz DP leafs... I want to get his Bilstein system with the "plush ride" coil option and the DP leafs out back, and then a track bar. Will this fit what I am looking for?

I was planning to keep my suspension budget at $2k because it pulls from my "S300/S400 Twins and Billet Tranny" budget